A geochemical characterization of copper ore deposits in the Balearic Islands: an isotope database for archaeometallurgical studies in Western Mediterranean Prehistory

Abstract

This study presents a new isotope and element-composition database of copper ores from Mallorca and Menorca. The main goal of this paper is to characterize copper resources from the Balearic Islands and demonstrate how this database can contribute to furthering studies on the origins of archaeological materials from the Western Mediterranean. Using our isotope database in conjunction with supporting geological and archaeological background information, we present analyses of six archaeological metals from Mallorca's Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods as case studies. Our results suggest that copper metal arriving to Mallorca during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age was mainly sourced from the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Languedoc, and the neighboring island of Menorca. These findings show that despite the difficulties posed by these regions' overlapping isotopic fields, such a database is still a useful tool for provenance studies in the Western Mediterranean.